Fish report

Posted: Sunday, July 27, 2003

King salmon fishing for Juneau area marine boat anglers continues its seasonal decline. During the most recent survey, it took 48 hours to land a king salmon, up from 42 hours the previous week. The five-year average is 64 hours per king salmon. Last year it took 71 hours to land a king.

Most of the king salmon sampled were caught in the terminal harvest area that includes Auke Bay and Fritz Cove. King salmon also were taken from the back side of Douglas Island.

Halibut fishing again accounted for about 60 percent of the marine-boat fishing effort. On average, it took six hours to land the flatfish. The five-year average is eight hours and last year during the same week it took five hours to land a halibut. Most of the halibut sampled came from around The Sisters and Spaski Islands in Icy Strait followed by the North Pass and Benjamin Island areas.

Coho salmon and pink salmon are showing up in good numbers. It took an average of 10 hours to land a silver, down from 28 hours the previous week. The five-year average is 10 hours, while last year it took seven hours to land a silver. Last year was a banner year for chinook and coho salmon and it will be difficult to keep up with 2002 harvest rates. Most of the coho salmon are being caught all around Shelter Island and on the backside of Douglas Island. Last week it took the average marine boat angler 16 hours to catch a pink salmon. Last year it took nine hours and the five-year average is 11 hours.

Provided by Bruce White of the Alaska Department of Fish and Game's Division of Sport Fish.